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NFL Week 6 best bets: Consider Patriots, Titans and Rams<\/p>\n
Need help with your NFL picks? Lorenzo Reyes explains why he likes the odds for these three teams on Sunday.<\/p>\n
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. \u2013 Usually, with less than 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and the New York Giants<\/a> playing in prime time, the fans heading to the exits at MetLife Stadium are their own.<\/p>\n Not on \u201cThursday Night Football\u201d Oct. 9 against the Philadelphia Eagles<\/a>. With the Giants doubling up the Eagles 34-17<\/a> and 9:41 remaining, it was the visiting fans clad in kelly green walking to the concourse on their way toward the marshes of New Jersey.\u00a0The final score held, and the defending Super Bowl champions fell in consecutive games for the first time since the 2023 season.<\/p>\n The Giants<\/a>‘ malaise over the past several seasons can be further explained by their putrid prime time record. Since the 2019 season, they were 2-20 in night games, including a 1-12 showing at home at MetLife Stadium.\u00a0<\/p>\n Enter the rookie combination of quarterback Jaxson Dart and running back Cam Skattebo<\/a>, both of whom carried the Giants\u2019 offense. Skattebo (19 rushes, 98 yards) had three rushing touchdowns. Dart also had one on the ground (10 carries for 60 yards before the end-of-game kneel downs) and was 17-for-25 with 195 passing yards and a touchdown through the air.\u00a0<\/p>\n “At times there’s some negativity that’s surrounding here,” Dart said of his first impression of being a Giant. “For us, some of the new guys coming in here, we just got here so we don’t feel like we’re involved in the past. We’ve got a lot of winners on this team.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t be naive to everything. We hear what people say. It definitely lights a fire in us.\u201d<\/p>\n Dart temporarily left the game<\/a> at the end of the third quarter while being evaluated for a concussion for the second time in three games but once again was quickly cleared.\u00a0Left tackle Andrew Thomas said the offensive line can hear the crowd’s reaction to Dart staying alive in or out of the pocket and extending plays. He also distilled the rookie’s playing style into an old-time phrase.<\/p>\n “Live by the sword,” he said, “die by the sword.”<\/p>\n The statistical contributions and production are, of course, necessary for change to begin in head coach Brian Daboll\u2019s fourth season at the helm. But the spiritual revitalization they have seemed to ignite \u2013 Dart is not lacking \u201caura,\u201d as the kids say, and Skattebo is slapping cornerbacks on the sideline to celebrate their interceptions \u2013 are even more meaningful.\u00a0<\/p>\n “It\u2019s so much energy. It\u2019s just life to our team,” tight end Daniel Bellinger told USA TODAY Sports about the rookie duo. “We\u2019ll have a down moment in a game and they\u2019ll just bring that energy and that juice, like \u2018All right, here we go.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n From the Giants\u2019 first drive, Dart sliced the Eagles<\/a>\u2019 depleted secondary, especially after cornerback Quinyon Mitchell exited in the first half with a hamstring injury (defensive tackle Jalen Carter was also surprisingly ruled out<\/a> before kickoff). Dart converted a long third down with a jump ball pass to Lil\u2019Jordan Humphrey and put All-Pro linebacker Zack Baun on skates for a 20-yard touchdown run for the Giants\u2019 first score of the game.<\/p>\n On the next drive, Dart stayed calm in the pocket as the Eagles\u2019 pass rush approached. The Ole Miss product turned to his right, found Wan\u2019Dale Robinson for a first down and Robinson did the rest \u2013 sprinting down the right sideline for a 35-yard touchdown and an early 13-3 advantage.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey just love ball,” Thomas said of both Dart and Skattebo. “They’re not really focused or concerned about how old they are, how many games they\u2019ve been in, just they love football, they\u2019re passionate about it, they play their tails off. And they brings guys with them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Inside the huddle, Bellinger said, Dart is mature and shows almost no nerves while staying in control of his emotions.<\/p>\n \u201cBrings us into the game and ready to (expletive) go,\u201d\u00a0Bellinger said.<\/p>\n Skattebo scored his first touchdown with 1:19 left before halftime and put New York back on top for good. He added one score in the third and fourth quarter apiece and finished with a taunting penalty for good measure.\u00a0Seventy-nine of his rushing yards came after contact, while 47 yards came against stacked boxes (eight or more defenders), according to Next Gen Stats<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been awesome,” Skattebo said of emerging as a fan favorite. “They feel the energy. They see it. They know we have something behind us, the little underdog feeling that lights a fire underneath us and gets us to keep going.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel it. But there\u2019s a spark that comes from a lot of guys, too.\u201d<\/p>\n From Day 1, running back Tyrone Tracy said, Skattebo has been outspoken, loud and emotional. His friendly slap of cornerback Cordale Flott, who picked off Jalen Hurts in the red zone, was an example.<\/p>\n \u201cYou need someone like that on your team that\u2019s going to speak up and be loud and have that energy and producing like that,\u201d Tracy told USA TODAY Sports. \u201cThat\u2019s just him being him. Not everybody\u2019s going to be like that.\u201d<\/p>\n The rookies\u2019 larger roles have also increased the Giants\u2019 efficiency in situational downs; they were 11-for-16 (69%) on third down and scored on all of their red zone and goal-to-go scenarios.<\/p>\n Daboll said he has liked everything about Dart since draft night. The coach doesn\u2019t expect perfection, but the toughness and vision, combined with the athleticism, has been noticed by Daboll. Dart has won two of his first three starts but there remains “a lot to work on.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019ll be the first to tell you that,\u201d Daboll said, \u201cbut he\u2019s a leader.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Not turning the ball over was a priority and topic of conversation for Dart and Skattebo during their talks since Sunday’s loss to the New Orleans Saints, when the Giants coughed the ball up five times.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re just trying to set a standard of intensity here each and every single day,\u201d\u00a0Dart said.<\/p>\n \u201cMe and him do a lot of things on the side together, talk a lot together, about kind of getting this turned around,\u201d Skattebo said about the time he and Dart spend with one another.<\/p>\n Those conversations may involve just the two of them, but they realize they are not alone in the effort. Getting everybody on the same page, buying into positivity and improving may start with them but it doesn’t end there.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to continue to build and build and build each and every day and have these guys with positive mindsets and get away from that losing mindset,\u201d said Skattebo, who added he felt the sideline’s confidence whether they were trailing by three in the first half or leading by 17 for the last 10 minutes of the game.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen your quarterback is that way, it\u2019s a lot easier,\u201d Skattebo said.<\/p>\n It’s also not simply Dart or Skattebo changing the vibe.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s everybody in the building,\u201d Skattebo said.<\/p>\n That may be true. But there is no denying that the two precocious “Big Blue” rookies are the heartbeat behind any potential turnaround for the Giants.<\/p>\n This story has been updated with new information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NFL Week 6 best bets: Consider Patriots, Titans and Rams Need help with your NFL picks? Lorenzo Reyes…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":291459,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,8015,8019,10887,58348,115748,10597,35132,149396,149397,4834,149398,9150,110384,1318,22967,11652,7226,66647,8591,2868,1571,5382,635,405,403,4716,50,5226,5225,1232,12623,5228,5227,450,1457,1311,1105,1451,74238,69595,62,1458,4546,129847,129846,29336,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,636,63392,60743],"class_list":{"0":"post-291458","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-american","10":"tag-american-football","11":"tag-andrew","12":"tag-andrew-thomas","13":"tag-baun","14":"tag-bellinger","15":"tag-carter","16":"tag-cordale","17":"tag-cordale-flott","18":"tag-daniel","19":"tag-daniel-bellinger","20":"tag-eagles","21":"tag-flott","22":"tag-football","23":"tag-giants","24":"tag-hub","25":"tag-jalen","26":"tag-jalen-carter","27":"tag-jr","28":"tag-mitchell","29":"tag-national","30":"tag-national-sports","31":"tag-new","32":"tag-new-york","33":"tag-new-york-city","34":"tag-new-york-giants","35":"tag-news","36":"tag-newyork","37":"tag-newyorkcity","38":"tag-nfl","39":"tag-nfl-hub","40":"tag-ny","41":"tag-nyc","42":"tag-overall","43":"tag-overall-positive","44":"tag-philadelphia","45":"tag-philadelphia-eagles","46":"tag-positive","47":"tag-quinyon","48":"tag-quinyon-mitchell","49":"tag-sports","50":"tag-sports-news","51":"tag-thomas","52":"tag-tracy","53":"tag-tyrone","54":"tag-tyrone-tracy-jr","55":"tag-united-states","56":"tag-united-states-of-america","57":"tag-unitedstates","58":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","59":"tag-us","60":"tag-usa","61":"tag-york","62":"tag-zack","63":"tag-zack-baun"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}